French Bread

⏳ Time

1 hour

🥕 Ingredients

🍽️ Servings

Description

After you eat as much as you can in one sitting, the best thing to do with the leftover bread is to freeze it. To do this, slice all the bread and place it in the freezer. You can defrost it in the microwave or toaster oven (without compromising the taste) for 2–3 minutes, piece by piece. This way, you'll have fresh bread on the table for a week. For your first time, it's better to make the bread using half the ingredients. It will still turn out to be quite large. The crust of this bread is fairly thick and crunchy, so it's best not to wait until it becomes dark brown. You can estimate the quantities by eye, but I use kitchen scales, which makes it very convenient to get the dough to the right consistency right away.

Ingredients

Wheat Flour - 2 lbs
Water - 21 fl oz
Salt - 0.6 oz
Dry yeast - 1.4 oz

Step by Step guide

Step 1

Mix the salt with the flour and yeast. Pour half of the flour into a large bowl, then add half of the water, and continue to alternate by adding the remaining flour and water in the same order. Use your hands to crumble the yeast and knead the dough. If necessary, add more flour or water to achieve the right consistency.

Step 2

Cover the bowl with the dough with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place until it doubles in size. I also like to wrap the bowl in a towel and place it on a heating pad, but even without the heating pad, the dough will double in size within an hour.

Step 3

Once the dough has risen, remove it from the bowl and knead it well again to eliminate any air bubbles. Shape the dough into a ball by stretching the top of the ball inward, allowing the uneven edges to fold underneath, resting in your palm.

Step 4

Line a baking tray with parchment paper, dust it with flour, and place the shaped dough ball on it. Let it rise on the tray for about an hour.

Step 5

When the dough has risen for the second time, make a few slashes with a knife and place it in the oven (482°F) for 35-40 minutes, until the crust turns golden brown. It is important to set the oven to the regular heating mode (without a fan) and to place a container of water at the bottom of the oven to keep the air moist.

Step 6

When the bread is ready, take it out of the oven, place it on a wire rack, and let it cool for about 3 hours until it's properly set. After that, the bread is ready to be enjoyed.